Shai Hope has to play, even ‘with a stretcher’ – Carlos Brathwaite

Hope has been in stellar form for the Windies and is one of their few positives from a difficult tour. He scored two centuries in the three one-day internationals, and helped the Windies to a victory in the second ODI.

However, he was hit on the head during the third match in Sylhet, and felt dizzy after that. In better news for the Windies, he was batting in the nets ahead of the first T20I.

“Shai [Hope] is in beautiful batting form, fresh off two back-to-back unbeaten centuries,” said Brathwaite. “Even if Shai has to play with a stretcher, I will volunteer to carry the stretcher between the wickets.

“He is fine and in good spirits. He is out practising, so hopefully he is close to 100%. As long as he is alive, he will play tomorrow.”

The Windies’ hopes of securing a first series win in their tour of Asia will be bolstered by the return of Evin Lewis, the dashing batsman who missed the ODIs against Bangladesh and the series in India before that.

“He is one of the better batsmen in the world,” said Brathwaite. “For the last 18 months or so, he has three T20I hundreds and also centuries in regional and franchise cricket all over the world.

“He is a definite plus for any team. It is a positive to have in our side. Hopefully he will deliver some big performances which will help us win the game and the series.”

Brathwaite also hoped that the shift to T20Is would improve their chances of finishing the year with a win. “The people back home deserve a Christmas gift," he said.

"We hope to close out the year with a win. We still think T20 is our premier format. We obviously haven't had the results to be in the recent past proud of. But here's a chance to turn things around and ending 2018 in a good way.”